Lawless Love by Rosanne Bittner

Author:Rosanne Bittner
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: e9781682303368
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 2016-03-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty

They walked quietly, the only sound being their footsteps, a grating sound against the red, dry earth of their small Utah ranch. Amanda put a hand to her cheek, wondering if the hot, dry air would age her before her time, wondering how she looked to him now, compared to Etta Landers. Yet all the time she knew it was a foolish thought. She was younger, and her skin was still soft and supple, and yet…

“Come on over here and sit down, Mandy,” he was telling her gently, leading her to the large, flat boulder under the sparse shade of a poplar tree. It was the only tree for miles around, and he knew this spot was her favorite. They sat down, and she leaned her head against his shoulder. He put his arm around her and kissed the dark hair that he loved. A fox squirrel ran in front of them and scurried up the tree.

“You want to go,” she finally said.

“I’m not sure, Mandy.”

“Yes, you are.” She sighed. “We haven’t been apart since we got married, Moss. Since before we got married.”

“I don’t like the thought of bein’ apart any better than you do, honey. But the men around here—they’d take care of you, as far as that part of it goes. And you’ve got Becky and the school. And I’d try to get back soon as I could.”

“And then again, maybe you wouldn’t come back at all,” she said quietly, watching the squirrel.

“Come on, Mandy. You know I can handle myself. There’s not a man can outgun me, and even that Apache’s hatchet couldn’t put me down. And I get along just fine with one arm.”

“And perhaps you’d never come back even if you didn’t get yourself killed,” she said in a near whisper. “She’s very beautiful, and you did love her once, you know.”

He sighed and hugged her closer. “Don’t do that, Mandy. That’s not how my woman talks. You know better than to say a thing like that.”

She turned and flung her arms around his neck, bursting into tears. He grasped her tightly around the waist and stood up, holding her so that her feet didn’t even touch the ground. To him she felt small as a child, and in many ways she was still as innocent as one. He kissed her hair over and over and let her cry. He knew she had worked hard all morning and was tired. And having Etta Landers appear out of a clear blue sky, catching her unprepared and suddenly seeming to challenge her had not helped. But he knew the kind of woman Amanda Tucker was, and he knew she just needed a little time to think about it, to remember the kind of love they shared.

“Moss, you’re doing this for vengeance,” she wept. “It’s wrong, Moss!”

He pulled away and took her hand. “No I’m not, Mandy. There’s just apparently some very wrong things goin’ on up there, and I don’t like seein’ a woman abused like Etta is bein’ abused.

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